MILTON, GA – After a back and forth opening quarter, Centennial exploded for 21 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a runaway 69-35 win on Friday, September 14th. The Knights posted 469 yards of total offense and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
"We have to learn from our mistakes," said head coach Craig Bennett. "And right now, some of our younger players are making the same mistakes. We are looking to correct them so that our kids understand and don't make the same mistakes again."
The Knights took advantage of three Bear turnovers and executed well on offense. Centennial committed no turnovers and only a few bad plays.
"All three turnovers gave them a short field," said Bennett. "Couple that with some poor tackling, and it is not good."
The Bears put up the highest point total of the season. The offense finished with 359 total yards, including 244 passing yards from Stratton Tripp. The sophomore played his best game of the season, completing 18-of-25 passes for two touchdowns. Tripp added on a rushing score.
Phillip Michael Collins continued to impress in his third game with another game over 100 yards rushing. Collins added two touchdowns as well.
Kasra Bojnordi received high praise from Bennett. "He had his best game to date," said Bennett. "Not only on the field, but on the sideline, in the huddle, and at practice he impressed this week."
The game started evenly. After an opening score by the Knights, Tripp found sophomore Hayden Gardella for a 13-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. Tripp anticipated the throw well, finding Gardella just as he broke off his route to the inside.
Centennial struck right away with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. "One of the returns was my fault with alignment," said Bennett. "We also need to understand ball awareness and adjust to the flight of the ball."
The Bears did not back down. Tripp hit Chandler Jones on a 60-yard seam route to knot the score at 14-14. Jones transferred in from Milton this season. Jones blew right past a Centennial defender with a speedy release that caused the cornerback to fall down and leave Jones wide open in the middle of the field.
After Centennials' strong second quarter, the Bears found themselves down 35-14 at the half.
The defense started the half with a stop, and Michael Collins ran for back-to-back first down runs. Tripp finished off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. However, Centennial responded with another kickoff return for touchdown and continued to produce big plays on offense. The Knights scored five touchdowns to the Bears' three in the second half. "The Centennial running back had a great game," said Bennett. "It also has to teach us losing isn't fun."
Senior Army commit Ridge Polk made his first appearance of the season and recorded a catch. Polk contributed nearly 1,000 yards of offense and 15 touchdowns last year. The Bears hope to get him back to full health soon.
The Bears drop to 1-3 (1-1 region) with the loss. The team will try to regroup with a trip to Grady Stadium to take on North Atlanta this Friday, September 21st.
"We need to make sure we are running to the ball," said Bennett. "We put an emphasis on that in our pursuit drill this week."
North Atlanta comes in at 2-1 (0-1 region) with a recent 32-53 loss to Johns Creek. "[North Atlanta] is very unpredictable," said Bennett. "Onside kicks, blocked punt, four kickoff returns for touchdowns, fake punts, trick plays, you name it, they do it, so we have to be aware of everything."
The game will kick off at 8:00 p.m.
Go Bears!
article by Jack Sadighian